Finally, our comic book artists guide will showcase some of the most popular artists while showcasing an example of their work. Please note that this guide will show case also inactive artists in case you want to start reading back issues (old comics).

Unfortunately it is too complicated to present a guide for writers but you should still factor in the storytelling in your decision.

As said in the introduction of this article, please feel free to drop by in our shop and either browse new releases or ask for help if you are undecided as to what to pick.

Comic book terminology (Comic book lingo)

There are some Comic Book related words that you want to understand when jumping (back) into comics.

The most important ones to know are the following:

Comic book:

A comic book is a magazine type book that relates the story of a hero (often a Superhero) over several episodes.

One-Shot:

A one shot comic book is an issue that is telling a story from start to end and can be read outside of any ongoing series.

Trade paperback (TPB):

A trade paperback, sometimes referred to as simply trade or collected edition is a book that is released covering the content of several comic books. It is usually a full story or part of a multi volume set

Mini-series:

As opposed to ongoing series that can run over a hundred comic issues or more, a mini-series will be limited in time and number of issues.

Previews:

Previews is a monthly magazine that lists all Comics to be released two months later (i.e. July for September). It is used by comic shops and their customers to order in advance the comics they want.

New comic book day:

Wednesday is new comic book day (NCBD), it’s the day of the week when comics are released.

Local comic store:

The friendly name given to your local comic shop. Often abbreviated LCS

Multiverse:

For several comic book publishers (mainly Marvel and DC), their universe is split into separate space and time continuities in order for their heroes and villains to be able to mind their own business without impacting other story lines.

Golden age comics:

This term refers to comic books released between the 1930’s and the beginning of the 1950’s

Silver age comics:

This term refers to comic books released between the mid 1950’s and the early 1970’s

Bronze age comics:

This term refers to comic books released between the early 1970’s to circa 1985

Back issues:

Back issues is a term used to describe previous issues of ongoing series. Usually not used for rare and high value issues or any issue prior to 1985

Variant cover:

Quite often, publishers will release comics with alternate covers that are called variants.

First print:

For very popular issues, publishers will sometimes run re-prints of their comic books. In that case, re-prints will be identified on the cover. The content of the comic book itself will usually be completely identical. The notice on the cover being mostly for collectors since re-prints will have far less value than original prints. Please note that in some rare cases (like X-Men gold #1) reprints will be edited to remove an error or a controversial image / text.

What makes a comic book valuable or collector?

If you see comics as an investment, there is no absolute rule that allows to predict the value of a comic in the future. Some however do reach crazy prices (the record sale price is $3.2M for Action Comic #1).

The things that make a comic book valuable are the following:

Issue #1: If your comic book is the very first of a series, it will likely gain value.

Rarity: It seems obvious, but the less issues of the comics are available for sale, the higher the price will be.

First appearances of popular heroes: Some heroes, before having their own series, start in some other hero’s story line. A good example is The Incredible Hulk 181 that features the first full appearance of Wolverine.

Comic book grade: Even though you might not want to do it for comics that are under $100 in value, most very rare comics get graded based on their general condition.